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Govt policy on 4x4s for all Departments is that anything over 10 years old should be replaced, as soon as, unless the operator can make a justifiable case for retention. A friend of mine who is responsible for the small quantity of vehicles in his very small unit of one Department, was told exactly this when he was told to turn in his 14 year old Trooper, which was in excellent condition, when an audit was done on his vehicles. He was told that it was Ford Ranger or nothing, unless he could prove his case. Specialist operators (DF, ESB, Coillte and so on) have a better case to get the vehicle they want instead of having a Ford Ranger imposed on them. I expect the ARW can make a strong case on a more direct route than burrowing through the bureaucracy....

Some NS vehicles have gone electric.
The ARW have a history of getting vehicles suitable for all tasks they carry out, not necessarily from the Govt Supplies catalog. Business cases are not the ark of the covenant they once were.
The F350 was a specialised vehicle, more akin to an AFV purchase. They recently got ACMAT Tactical vehicles to back up the F350. Nobody else in the DF has used acmat for years. The suggestion they would get a Ford ranger is thankfully not the case. Unless that is they seek a 4x4 high end passenger vehicle suitable for pulling horseboxes....Anything is possible.
My dept replaced a 1998 Land Rover Discovery Commercial with a 2016 Pajero Commercial. The other option we were given was a Ford Kuga commercial. We still operate a 2007 Kia Sorento.
GS just got a batch of Hyundai Tuscons.

German 1: Private Schnutz, I have bad news for you.
German 2: Private? I am a general!
German 1: That is the bad news.

"Let us be clear about three facts:First of all.All battles and all wars are won in the end by the Infantryman.Secondly the Infantryman bears the brunt of the fighting,his casualties are heavier and he suffers greater extremes of fatigue and discomfort than the other arms.Thirdly,the art of the Infantryman is less stereotyped and harder to acquire than that of any other arm".
-- Field Marshall Earl Wavell.1948

Why the need for the ARW on a training mission?
The EUTM is a purely non-combative deployment to develop local forces to ensure security.
There is also the UN Peacekeeping force MINUSMA but we are currently not part of it.

Given the specialist nature of the ARW what would be the mission in Mali? It cannot be to just provide base security nor that they have not been deployed for 10yrs!

Why the need for the ARW on a training mission?
The EUTM is a purely non-combative deployment to develop local forces to ensure security.
There is also the UN Peacekeeping force MINUSMA but we are currently not part of it.

Given the specialist nature of the ARW what would be the mission in Mali? It cannot be to just provide base security nor that they have not been deployed for 10yrs!

It hasn't been publicly stated yet what mission they will be deployed to but it should be quite obvious to most what it will be.
There is other Europen Special Forces in Mali which should give a clue.

Why the need for the ARW on a training mission?
The EUTM is a purely non-combative deployment to develop local forces to ensure security.
There is also the UN Peacekeeping force MINUSMA but we are currently not part of it.

Given the specialist nature of the ARW what would be the mission in Mali? It cannot be to just provide base security nor that they have not been deployed for 10yrs!

One of the three roles of SOF.
1/ Direct action
2/ Special Reconnaissance
3/ Military Assistance

"Let us be clear about three facts:First of all.All battles and all wars are won in the end by the Infantryman.Secondly the Infantryman bears the brunt of the fighting,his casualties are heavier and he suffers greater extremes of fatigue and discomfort than the other arms.Thirdly,the art of the Infantryman is less stereotyped and harder to acquire than that of any other arm".
-- Field Marshall Earl Wavell.1948

Why the need for the ARW on a training mission?
The EUTM is a purely non-combative deployment to develop local forces to ensure security.
There is also the UN Peacekeeping force MINUSMA but we are currently not part of it.

Given the specialist nature of the ARW what would be the mission in Mali? It cannot be to just provide base security nor that they have not been deployed for 10yrs!

Could be with MINUSMA, could be EUTM force protection, could be training training Malian SF

Canadaâ€™s Task Force Mali deployed to the country in July 2018 and consists of three CH-147F Chinooks, five CH-146 Griffon helicopters, and approximately 250 personnel in total....

...Unfortunately, the Canada has insisted that its contribution is temporary and will end after a year, as planned, in July 2019.....

So far, it remains unclear who might replace the Canadians in Mali. Thereâ€™s no guarantee that whoever might step in to take their place will bring their own Chinooks and be able to provide anywhere near the capability the CH-147Fs have offered peacekeepers for the past six months.

2. Sending 12 ARW operators to Mali is the same as a patrol of 4 SRVs - or two patrols of 2 SRVs. Not even enough soldiers to crew ACMAT motherships, which can accompany the patrols carrying water, ammo, food and casualties. Why not sent a beefed up platoon of 40 as before?

12 or less need no Dail Approval.Just the Cabinet and the UN Mandate.
If they do go as part of MINUSMA they will be embedded into another contingent.Possibly the Dutch.
Just like in Timor.

Infantry Corps - An LÃ¡mh Comhrac

"Let us be clear about three facts:First of all.All battles and all wars are won in the end by the Infantryman.Secondly the Infantryman bears the brunt of the fighting,his casualties are heavier and he suffers greater extremes of fatigue and discomfort than the other arms.Thirdly,the art of the Infantryman is less stereotyped and harder to acquire than that of any other arm".
-- Field Marshall Earl Wavell.1948

A senior RTÃ‰ journalist would have got an in-depth briefing from did/do press office before writing article. As for the size of mission theyâ€™ll imbed with another nations special forces company, and it will have to go through Dail. Interesting enough along with special forces the other ground units on the mission are Istar tf similar to the ones we have for eubg deployment.

Im pretty sure that ARW go overseas a LOT without this much noise, if were being told about it, theres political gain in the telling.

"He is an enemy officer taken in battle and entitled to fair treatment."
"No, sir. He's a sergeant, and they don't deserve no respect at all, sir. I should know. They're cunning and artful, if they're any good. I wouldn't mind if he was an officer, sir. But sergeants are clever."

The author of the first article needs to do better research.Not the units first rodeo and they will be embedded within a larger SOF unit.Also their equipment is second to none.

Infantry Corps - An LÃ¡mh Comhrac

"Let us be clear about three facts:First of all.All battles and all wars are won in the end by the Infantryman.Secondly the Infantryman bears the brunt of the fighting,his casualties are heavier and he suffers greater extremes of fatigue and discomfort than the other arms.Thirdly,the art of the Infantryman is less stereotyped and harder to acquire than that of any other arm".
-- Field Marshall Earl Wavell.1948

The author of the first article needs to do better research.Not the units first rodeo and they will be embedded within a larger SOF unit.Also their equipment is second to none.

To be fair, I read the authors comment on equipment as in relation to the Malian government request for armour and helicopters, neither of which Ireland will be supplying.

This is also positive move for the Malian government, as these Special Operation troops wonâ€™t be there to train or advise. The job is to actively seek out terrorists and bandits operating in the north and middle regions of the country. The Malian government said previously it doesnâ€™t need more training troops: what it needs is more troops, armored vehicles, and helicopters to conduct offensive operations to help lower the risk to the civilian population.

Personally, I donâ€™t think Ireland will be in a position to provide the requested military equipment. Nevertheless, deploying its best unit to conduct offensive operations is a pro-active move for both countries.